Remembering Father Joseph Coda
World War II Veteran and St. Teresa’s Priest of St. Theresa’s Church
Submitted by Historian Michael T. Naya, Jr.
Over the years St. Theresa’s Church in Kenilworth has had many priests come and go. One priest that many parishioners will remember is Father Joseph Coda who passed away on March 27, 2022, at the age of one-hundred and three. Joseph was born in Lodi, New Jersey on November 3, 1918. As a young man he attended St. Peter’s Prep in Jersey City and later St. Peter and Paul in Hoboken.
During World War II, he served in the 26th Division of Patton’s Third Army. He saw combat in France, the Battle of the Bulge, Luxembourg, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Germany. During his time in the service, he received the Bronze Star. In 2018, The Catholic Advocate ran an article detailing his life. To author Melissa McNally he stated, “Someone once said that there are no atheists in fox- holes,” Father Coda said. “You see so many people wounded or killed. The fact that you survived makes you feel like you have a guardian angel. You realize God has something in mind for you and it is important to find out what that is.”
After receiving his honorable discharge, he attended the Manhattan School of Music and Juilliard. He then attended Seton Hall and Immaculate Conception Seminary in Mahwah, New Jersey. He was ordained on May 25, 1963, at the age of forty-four. Following his ordination he spent his priesthood at St. Joseph, Oradell, New Jersey, and later St. Theresa’s in Kenilworth. On November 3, 1988, he retired from St. Theresa’s on his seventieth birthday. In his later years he took up residence at St. John Vianney Residence in Rutherford, New Jersey. At the age of ninety-nine Father Coda was the oldest priest in the Archdiocese of Newark.
The parishioners of St. Theresa’s Church as well as those who knew him will never forget his kindness and care.
